Naruto of the Dead Bone Pulse
by Deckof53
Summary: On the run, a young Naruto is captured and beaten.  When his life is in danger, he awakens his powerful bloodline.  With the help of his ANBU-sensei, will he master this power and become Hokage?  Come and find out.  Rating for violence and swearing.
1. ANBUsensei!

Naruto of the Dead Bone Pulse

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and won't say it again.

Chapter I: ANBU-sensei!

A scared Uzumaki Naruto rounded a corner, running at his top speeds. It was October tenth, his birthday, and two of the villagers decided it would be fun to mess with him again. Usually, the villagers would only rough him up a little before the ANBU would step in and stop things, but the ANBU hadn't arrived yet, and these villagers had knives.

"Get back here you little brat!" one of the villagers hollered out. They sounded like they were gaining on him.

Tears came unbidden to the child's eyes. He had never understood why this happened to him. He had never understood the names, the cold glares, or the beatings. In his short six years of life, the ANBU had had to save him twenty times with seven of them being life threatening.

"Gotcha!" the villager yelled as a large hand clamped down on Naruto's shoulder, spinning him around and making him fall in the dirt.

Naruto's eyes darted every which way, trying in vain to find an escape route. His heart deflated as he realized that there was no way for him to escape. He locked eyes with the approaching villagers and started edging his way backwards.

"Heh heh. Now you'll pay for what you did,... Demon." one of the villagers said, darkly. He flipped out the blade on his switch blade.

"Yeah. We'll finish what the Yondaime started." the other said, mirroring his partners movements.

_'The Yondaime? Why would they kill me to finish what the Yondaime started?"_ Naruto asked in his head, but quickly forgot about it as the two were quickly approaching him. _'ANBU-san isn't coming. I guess this is how I end.'_ he thought forlornly.

"Now die Demon!" With that yell, the two jumped upon the retreating six year old. There was some scuffling with Naruto getting quite a few cuts, but he couldn't feel anything. He was in a mass state of denial. Then a foreign emotion filled Naruto. Fury. Hot, burning fury coursed through his veins and something within him responded.

The sound of tearing cloth was all that warned the two villagers before they were impaled by long, sharp... bones? Five foot rib bones had somehow exited the jinchuuriki's body and impaled his attackers who quickly bled to death. Naruto could only stare at the two dead bodies that were suspended by _his_ bones above him. The psychologically scarring image, plus the odd feeling of his bones protruding from his skin finally made him pass out. The last conscious thing he rememberred was the soft sound of feet landing and the familiar animal mask of the ANBU looking down at him.

_'Figures. Once I don't need them, they show up.'_ Naruto thought as darkness overcame him.

The ANBU could only stare dumbly at the scene before him. He scratched his spiky gray hair, while trying to connect the dots. _'That looks like the Dead Bone Pulse, but it was supposedly wiped out when the Kaguya clan attacked Kirigakure.'_ He watched as the bones withdrew back into Naruto's body and allowed the two dead civilians to fall to the ground. _'Hokage-sama will know what to do.'_ He then picked up Naruto and disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving the two villagers for someone else to clean up.

* * *

"He has what?" Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, asked loudly. "How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure Hokage-sama. The bloodline was supposedly wiped out, and I wasn't aware that Kushina had any relations to the Kaguya clan." Kakashi responded.

Hiruzen took a long look at the blond on the couch of his office before turning back to Kakashi and lighting his pipe. Taking a long draw and exhaling the smoke, he was instantly calmer. "This makes things much more interesting."

"What can we do, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, gazing at his sensei's son. He felt so helpless when it came to the boy sometimes. He alone had saved the boy over fifty times, despite Naruto thinking it only twenty. That was not to mention the other ANBU members, though Kakashi did the majority of the work. He tried to make sure that he was the ANBU on guard everytime he could manage it.

"There is not much we can do, Kakashi-kun. Sadly, there is no one I can think of that could even attempt to help the boy with his new power, and we have no documentation of how the techniques work to help him. He'll largely have to figure everything out on his own." Hiruzen said softly. "We'll teach him some advanced chakra control to keep him from losing control of it, but thats about all we can do."

"If that is best, then let me teach him." Kakashi said, urgently.

Hiruzen sighed again and took another draw on his pipe. "I cannot do that Kakashi, and you know that. You are too valuable to the village. I will give you two weeks to work with Naruto on chakra control, but that is all I can give you before we'll need you for missions."

"I understand, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said in a defeated voice. He just wished that he could do more for his sensei's son.

"Go home, Kakashi. I'll need to talk to Naruto about whats happening." Hiruzen said to the tired man.

"Hai." Kakashi said, snapping a salute to his commanding officer and shunshining out of there.

"This is going to be an interesting conversation." Hiruzen muttered to himself before turning to the pictures of the Hokage on the wall, silently asking two of them for guidance and one for forgiveness.

* * *

Naruto slowly opened his eyes. It took him a moment to focus, but he couldn't help but remember what had happened the night before. It was hard to forget the feeling of your bones protruding from your chest, without it hurting, and the sight of said bones impaling the villagers that had been physically abusing you.

"I see your awake, Naruto-kun." a deep gravely voice said from his right.

"Hokage-jiji?" Naruto asked, focusing in on the one person who had ever cared for him.

"Yes. Its me." the old Fire Shadow said, puffing on his pipe. It was almost morning. Six hours had passed since Kakashi had brought the village's jinchuuriki in. "Please come sit with me. We have some things to discuss."

Naruto slowly got up from the couch and staggered over to the Hokage's desk. He still felt pretty weak, but the cuts he had obtained from the night before seemed to have already healed.

"Naruto-kun. Do you remember what happened to you last night?" Hiruzen asked him.

"A little. Those guys were chasing me. They had knives. Then one of them spun me around and they started calling me names, and one of them mentioned finishing what the Yondaime started, but I don't exactly know what that means. Then they jumped on me and started cutting me up, but I got super duper mad, and then my bones came out of my body and stabbed them, and then ANBU-san showed up, and then I passed out." Naruto explained quickly with a child like innocence, though his face scrunched up when he mentioned his anger.

"That is what I surmised, but I needed to hear it from your mouth." Hiruzen said gravely. "Naruto, I'm sure you want to know how your bones did what they did last night." He paused to let Naruto quit nodding his head so exaggeratedly that Hiruzen was afraid he would cause himself whiplash. Hiruzen smiled at the child like action before continuing.

"There was a clan in Kirigakure a number of years ago that were said to be able to use their bones in jutsus, but the ability was so rare that only one or two had the ability to do it in a generation. Their bloodline limit was called the Dead Bone Pulse."

"So I have family in Kirigakure. Then why am I here?" Naruto asked, confused.

"The clan I told you of were very violent and declared war on the Mizukage himself. They were completely wiped out, and it was believed that there were no survivors. You must be a distant relation of this clan." Hiruzen explained to the blond.

"Oh."

"Naruto, having a bloodline like this could be dangerous. So I'm having an ANBU assigned to teach you chakra control. There are no known practitioners of the Dead Bone Pulse in the world, so you will have to discover your bloodline's abilities on your own. I just ask that you be very careful."

Naruto smirked cockily at Hiruzen before exclaiming, "Don't worry old man! Kami-sama has given me a gift in this new power, so that I may take your job that much quicker. Believe it, jiji. I'll master my Dead Bone Pulse, and then I will come and take that hat!" He pointed at Hiruzen's hat for emphasis causing Hiruzen to smile.

"With an attitude like that, you just might do it, Naruto-kun. The ANBU will be around sometime this afternoon to begin your training. Take it seriously. The only road to my seat is through hard work." Hiruzen said quietly to the quiet boy who was paying attention to the Hokage.

"Okay Hokage-jiji. Catch ya later. I have to go prepare for my training." Naruto shouted as he ran out of the office.

_'Maybe he'll be alright after all.'_ Hiruzen thought gazing back at his fellow Hokage. _'Maybe you don't need to worry anymore Minato.'_

* * *

Naruto rushed into his apartment and started stripping. The shirt he had ruined the night before quickly found its way into the trash. He opened his closet and pulled out some new pants and threw them on, but when he reached for a shirt he stopped. He didn't have any other shirts. All of his other ones had been ruined as well, and he didn't have the money to run out and buy himself a new one.

A sharp knock at the door took him away from his current dillemma, and he rushed to the door. He paused to look through the peep hole, and upon confirming that it was the ANBU, threw the door open.

"Naruto-san? Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" Kakashi asked behind his dog mask.

"I don't have anymore. I ruined my last one last night." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh. Okay. I will get you more clothes tomorrow. For now, let us get to the training ground." Kakashi said, reaching out and grabbing the boy's shoulder. In a swirl of leaves, they were gone and the door swung shut on the empty apartment.

Naruto collapsed to the ground after his first experience with the Shunshin. It made him really dizzee.

"Easy, Naruto-san. Don't throw up." Kakashi said, humorously.

"Sorry ANBU-sensei. I was just surprised." Naruto said, taking deep breaths to calm the nauseating feeling.

_'Sensei?'_ Kakashi thought. Images of a tall blonde man smiling down at him, a dark haired boy with goggles, and a brown headed girl with red marks on her face slipped into his mind. _'Obito would never stop laughing at that. The always aloof Kakashi being called sensei.'_

"Naruto, you have to pay close attention. I only have two weeks to train you in chakra control." Kakashi said, seriously. Kakashi had Naruto's complete attention. "You have already accessed your chakra before."

"My what?" Naruto interrupted.

"I might want to start from the beginning." Kakashi muttered. "Chakra is a type of energy within your body. Everyone has it, though only a certain few can use it. You used your chakra last night when you activated your bloodline."

Naruto silently thought about the night before and the feeling he felt right before his bones had impaled his attackers. He remembered the anger, but there was another feeling. It was a type of energy that had built up in his chest and then sprung. If he really concentrated, he could feel that same energy swirling around in his body. Without thinking about it, he willed his katra, or whatever ANBU-sensei had called it, to build up in his chest and released it like he had last night.

Kakashi's eye widened behind his mask at seeing four large, ivory bones rip out of his sensei's son's chest. Naruto only looked curiously at them. He reached out a hand and touched the tip, only to gasp as the tip sliced his finger open. The momentary pain distracted him long enough to drop the chakra filtering through the bones, and they sunk back into his skin.

"Well I see that you have figured out chakra." Kakashi said, smiling(though nobody could really tell). "Now you need to learn how to control your chakra."

"But I can control it." Naruto said, once again willing chakra into his chest and releasing it to make his bones come out. "See."

"No that is using your chakra. It took you five seconds and a lot of concentration to get it to do that. You should be able to do it instantly." Kakashi made the tiger handsign and blew a small fireball off to the side as an example.

Naruto stared wide eyed at the now singed log. Then he turned back to his sensei. "My bone thing is cooler than your fire thing, but how do I get it like that."

Kakashi raised an unseen eyebrow at the cool comment. _'He's definitely not going to be a ninjutsu type.'_ "We have to do chakra control exercises. Chakra is like a muscle, the more you work it, the better it gets."

"Well show me the exercises, ANBU-sensei." Naruto said, impatiently.

"Fine." Kakashi said, snatching a leaf out of the air. "The first exercise is the leaf sticking exercise."

T.B.C.

**I know its kind of a boring start, but I needed to get all of this out of the way. Chapters will get better after this. Anyways tell me what you like and don't like. I've had this bouncing in my head for a while, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone give Naruto the Dead Bone Pulse. Hope you enjoy it.**

**Deck of 53**


	2. Speed Test

Naruto of the Dead Bone Pulse

Chapter II: Speed Test

Naruto hung upside down with an intense look of concentration on his face. He was just about... done! He quickly flipped right side up on the Yondaime Hokage's nose and looked out at the village from the perspective of its greatest hero. Ofcourse that hero had been dead for approximately ten years, and Naruto was looking out from his stone face on the Hokage monument. It was serene, and Naruto was quite content to just sit there for the next five minutes as the sun's first rays illuminated Konoha.

Naruto breathed in deeply and adopted a sprinter's stance. "Get ready. Get set." he mumbled with half lidded eyes.

"NARUTO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" a random ANBU yelled at him.

"GO!" he yelled as he took off down the mountain and across the roof tops, leaving dust trails on the Hokage's painted faces. The ANBU were quick to give chase, pressing themselves to the limit to keep up with the blond Hokage wannabe.

* * *

The sound of shouting caused Kakashi to pause in his mission report to the Hokage.

Hiruzen smiled at the interuption and chuckled slightly. "It seems your wayward student has struck again, Kakashi." he said.

"Again? Thats the third time this month." Kakashi said in a bored voice, but he was inwardly smiling.

"Fifth actually. You were away on a mission for the other two." Hiruzen corrected. He stood and walked to the window and peered out. "Come here, Kakashi. Lets see how this turns out."

Kakashi nodded and came to stand beside his commander. He peered out as the situation unfolded.

* * *

The chase lasted ten minutes before the ANBU were in grabbing range, but Naruto made a cross shaped seal and a puff of smoke obscured their vision for a moment. When they had cleared the smoke, they saw four different Naruto's running in different directions. However, they weren't ANBU for there good looks and could instantly tell which one was the real one.

In five more minutes they had caught back up to Naruto and one grabbed a fist full of his shirt and yanked him around. In less than a second, a cloud of smoke obscured his body. When it cleared, there was a little girl with a scared look in her big brown eyes. They heard a soft landing behind them.

"You'll have to try harder than that ANBU-san." They turned to see Naruto with a large smile on his face. "Now put the girl down before you give her nightmares."

_'Kawarimi.'_ They all thought before hopping off after their prey. The one who had grabbed hold of the girl set her down gently on the street before rejoining the pursuit.

The little girl just stared off at the ninja before shaking her head with a sigh. A plume of smoke obscured her for a second before Naruto was once again standing in the place of the little girl. _'Not one of them questioned whether it was a henge or not.'_

* * *

"You must look underneath the underneath." Kakashi repeated what was said to all ninja at some point in their career.

The Hokage just smiled appreciatively at the strategy. "Looks like they figured out they've been chasing a duplicate and are turning around to re-engage. By the way, was it wise to teach Naruto the Kage Bunshin at such an early age."

"Mah." Kakashi waved off the comment. "The boy had jounin level chakra reserves at the time already. Hell if raw chakra was all it took to rise in the ninja ranks, Naruto would be standing next to me instead of you. Besides, how else was I going to teach him all the chakra control exercises in two weeks without it?"

Hiruzen nodded his understanding. "How many can he make?"

"Five years ago, he could make thirty without exhausting himself. Now, with his increased reserves and better chakra control, I'd hazard a guess at around sixty to seventy."

Hiruzen's eyes widened slightly. He could only make seventy-five and still be battle ready, and his chakra control was more perfect than most med-nins, other than Tsunade of course.

"Looks like the chase has resumed." Kakashi commented.

* * *

"What's wrong, ANBU-san?" Naruto yelled over his shoulder. "Did my little trick make you mad?"

"This kid is making a mockery of our entire organization." one ANBU said to another.

"Lets show this brat who the real elite are!" the ANBU replied.

All four of them fazed out of existence. Up front, a small secretive smile graced Naruto's features for a split second before returning to his large goofy smile.

The ANBU all fazed back into view ten feet in front of him. Naruto skidded to a stop in front of them.

"I see you are getting agitated." Naruto said, cocking his head to the side. He brightened up considerably, as if he had just gotten a grand idea. "I have just the thing to alleviate the tension." With a handsign a cloud of smoke obscured him from view. All the ANBU got ready for anything. The smoke cleared to reveal a stunning blond beauty in her birthday suit, with just small clouds keeping her decent. "Do I make you feel better ANBU-chan?" she cooed.

All of the ANBU, who were all men by the way, stared wide eyed at the un earthly beauty before passing out from massive nose bleeds.

* * *

Kakashi and Hiruzen sweat dropped at the technique as well as its effectiveness. They were both ashamed to admit that they would probably fall for it too.

"That was interesting." Hiruzen said.

"Yes it was effective. That was the first time he's ever gotten away from them."

"He's not out of the woods yet." Hiruzen said before poofing away.

Kakashi shook his head by himself. "Sorry Naruto. Its over for you. You don't stand a chance against the God of Shinobi." he said to the empty office.

* * *

Naruto had already begun walking away, celebrating his victory, when the sound of swirling leaves alerted him to a new arrival. He turned to be met with a smiling Hokage, still puffing on his pipe.

"Ojii-san? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked. It was a rare sight indeed for the old man to be out of his office.

"Well Naruto, I was taking a break from my paperwork to admire the glorious art work somebody saw fit to not only put on the Hokage's faces, but _my_ face more importantly. Then I noticed a spectacular chase between my ANBU and this shirtless rascal." the Hakage explained, smiling.

_'Hey! Its not my fault that ANBU-sensei quit buying me shirts after the fourth one I ruined.'_ Naruto thought indignantly. He now only wore black ANBU style pants and shinobi sandals.

"When the chase ended and my ANBU weren't walking away with the shirtless rascal apprehended, and instead the shirtless rascal was walking away from the unconscious ANBU, I decided I wanted in on the action."

Naruto cocked his head to the side. "Huh?"

"You gave the ANBU a good chase. Now give me one, or I'll have to make you scrub the entire mountain until tomorrow morning, whether all the paint is gone before then or not." the Hokage said, smiling serenely.

Naruto gave the old man an astonished look before sputtering, "Are y-you serious?"

"As serious as I can be. I'll even make it more interesting. If you can evade me for thirty minutes, I'll let you where my hat the rest of the day."

His eyes widened. The hat that he had wanted since he could remember was in his grasp. Maybe not permanently, but he could atleast see how he looked in it. So what if he was the Hokage and considered the best ninja in the village. He was an old man. No way he could keep up. Atleast that was what Naruto used to justify the situation, though he had a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to be seeing himself in that hat for a long time.

"Your on, Hokage-jiji!" he yelled before disappearing from view, leaving the Hokage still smiling in the middle of the street.

Naruto took every back alley, double backed a few times, and then jumped behind a garbage can. He was breathing heavily from the amount of activity he had already gone through. He smirked when there was no sign of the Hokage.

"You'll have to do better than that, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen's voice came from directly over his left shoulder.

Naruto's eyes widened for a split second before he was off again, jumping from roof top to roof top. He didn't slow down till he got to the park. He looked over his left shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed. He breathed a sigh of relief at seeing no one.

"Are you having fun see-sawing with me, Sakura?" came a familiar voice from the playground. Naruto whipped his head around to see the Hokage playing with an ecstatic little pink haired girl. Hiruzen looked over at him and winked. Naruto was off again.

Everywhere he went, the old man was there. On top of the hospital's roof, he was there. In a back alley, he was there. Behind the Hokage's Tower, he was there. Naruto only had one last place to hide. He jumped through the coverings of Ichiraku's Ramen Stand and took a seat at the counter. He was too nervous to move, afraid that it would somehow attract the Hokage's presence. Then, a steaming hot bowl of miso ramen was placed in front of him by Tseuchi, the owner of the stand.

"Hey. I haven't ordered anything yet, Old Man." Naruto called to Tseuchi.

"I took the liberty of ordering for you, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen's gravelly voice didn't startle Naruto anymore. The blond just sunk down with a sigh.

"I give up, Ojii-san." Naruto sighed. He took his chop sticks and began eating.

"Don't feel bad, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen said. "There are few in this world who could escape me, much less an academy student. Just tell me something. Why did you paint the Faces today, or any of your other pranks?" Hiruzen asked, expecting the lack of attention speech, but he was in for a surprise.

"Why do you think, old man? To test my speed." Naruto said, shooting a smirk.

"To test your speed?"

"Yeah. When I first began my pranks, the chases lasted barely five minutes if I was lucky, no matter how many tricks I tried. The one today lasted thirty minutes, not counting the time they were off chasing my Kage Bunshin. I realize if they were going for the kill, I would've been dead before I got off the Hokage monument, but I still think I did pretty good. Besides, they could use the practice as well. If they couldn't catch that Henge trick, then they're losing their touch." Naruto concluded with a self satisfied nod.

Hiruzen gave a pleased smile. The boy was something special. His smile turned wicked as he decided his course of action.

Naruto was just finishing his bowl of ramen when a heavy thunk landed on his head. Naruto looked at the Hokage in confusion for a moment before realizing that the man was missing his hat. He gingerly reached up and gripped the side of the Fire Shadow's head dress.

"The chase began thirty-one minutes ago, and I still haven't apprehended you. Looks like you won, Naruto." Hiruzen said, lighting his pipe.

"YATTA!"

* * *

Four ANBU members were gathered in front of the Hokage's desk. After having woken up, they were immediately summoned to the Hokage's office to speak with him.

"Care to explain how my _elite_ ninja were fooled by an eleven year old boy?" Hiruzen asked in a serious voice, though secretly amused. "You are losing your touch if he was able to evade you like that. The boy isn't even a Genin yet, but he has made a mockery of you. Anything to say for yourselves?" He was met with silence. "Well, this requires action. I can't let this just blow over. So what should we do with you?" The Hokage, minus his head dress, began tapping his chin in thought. "Naruto, what do you think?" he asked, turning to the boy who was posing in front of the mirror in the Kage's hat.

Naruto turned and blushed at being caught posing. Then he turned his attention towards the question. A devilish grin graced his features causing all the ANBU to gulp.

* * *

"Why the hell do we have to clean up his mess, Taicho?" a masked ANBU asked his team leader. They were all stuck to the Hokage monument wiping off all of the paint. The only problem was that this paint was unusually stubborn and refused to come off.

"Because you were the one's who got bested by an eleven year old." was the reply. The ANBU captain hadn't been a part of the chase, so was just present to supervise the work.

"But this isn't fair." the ANBU whined.

"Now I see how he did it." the Captain said. "You sound like a ten year old girl, so you must have the skills of a ten year old girl. When we get done here, we're going for a training trip inside the Forty-fourth Training Ground."

All the ANBU shuddered at the mention of the area and wisely didn't say anything further.

* * *

"Naruto?" a voice sounded from the Hokage's door. Old Hiruzen was going through paper work with the blond by his side, showing him some of the things that crossed the desk of the Hokage.

They both looked up and saw a familiar Dog masked ANBU poking his head in the door. "ANBU-sensei!" he cried and ran to the ANBU. Kakashi smiled and ruffled his hair, though no one besides himself was aware of the former.

"May I take Naruto-kun with me for a moment, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked.

"Ofcourse. Naruto, you may want to leave the hat here. You can put it back on when you get back." Hiruzen said, taking his hat from the eleven year old.

"We'll be back soon, Hokage-jiji!" Naruto yelled as Kakashi shunshined away with the blond in tow.

* * *

"Where are we going, ANBU-sensei?" Naruto asked for the fifth time since they had left the office.

Kakashi laughed softly at the energy of his companion. "You do not have to call me sensei, Naruto. I only taught you a few control exercises five years ago."

"You still taught me something! More than the Academy instructors can boast, and I have to call them sensei. So you have more than earned the title."

"Hnn. How did you fail the Graduation test anyway? With what I saw today, you more than meet the requirements for a fresh Genin."

"I was required to make a Bunshin. My last two sensei's said that the Kage Bunshin didn't count, and if I couldn't make a regular Bunshin, then I couldn't graduate." Naruto said, sadly. He brightened up as he continued, "But this year, I'm going to Iruka-sensei's class. He's always been friendly to me, even the one time he caught me skipping to play pranks. Plus, all the kids are my age, so I might be able to make some friends, though I will miss Lee."

Kakashi shuddered. He had run into Naruto's old Academy friend Lee. He had been put on Kakashi's 'eternal rival', Maito Gai's team. Gai had turned him into a virtual clone. It was creepy.

"Well, just stay on your chakra control. You have a ridiculous amount of chakra for your age, so that is why you can't do regular bunshin. However, if you keep fine tuning your control, you'll eventually be able to." Kakashi said. He led Naruto into a Ninja store. You had to have a headband, and a ninja ID-card just to browse anything here. Since Naruto was with him, he was allowed in too.

"What are we doing here, ANBU-sensei?" Naruto asked, looking through the various weapons and scrolls.

"You told the Hokage earlier that you were testing your speed. Well, we're here to get you something to make you faster and stronger."

"Oooh. What is it?" Naruto asked.

"These." He held one pair of standard leg weights, and another pair of wrist weights. He paid for them and strapped them to Naruto when they were outside. "Whenever I think you're ready, I will pop in with more weight. Only take them off when you're practicing your kekkai genkai. These are too expensive to be replacing after an accidental bone spike tears them up."

Naruto stared at the bands around his wrists and ankles and frowned. "But ANBU-sensei. How am I supposed to walk around town with these things on? They look so uncool."

Kakashi sweatdropped and tried to rub the bridge of his nose in annoyance, but realized that his ANBU mask was in the way, so he just ran his hand over the smooth ceramic features in annoyance. He then marched back in the store and came back out with a few more items. "Here." he said throwing them in Naruto's hands. "The pants are baggier than the ones you have on, so you can have the weights on underneath. The forearm warmers can be put on top of the weights, to hide them from view."

Naruto nodded and slipped the arm warmers on. They were black with orange elastic bands to hold them in place at both ends. They extended from his wrists to his elbows, so they completely covered the weight bands. After finding a bathroom, he changed into the pants his sensei had given him, which were looser than the ANBU style pants and covered up the leg weights without trouble.

"Now are we good?" Kakashi asked his student, though he didn't consider two weeks worth of training to be adequate enough time to be considered a sensei.

Naruto nodded, but then thought of a question. "Uhm... ANBU-sensei? Why are these weights so light?"

"They are only the introductory weights. Their purpose is to get you used to moving around with extra weight before you really start training, so you don't hurt yourself. I'll come by with the next set of weights sometime next week. They'll be significantly heavier." Kakashi said. He then made a hand sign. "Try walking back to the Tower to get a feel for them." He then shunshined out.

"I have got to learn that." Naruto thought before jumping on top of the roof. Instantly, he could tell what Kakashi meant. The added weight, little that it was, was enough to make Naruto have to alter his movements slightly. If he had had too much weight on right then, he probably couldn't have made it to the roofs. He had to get used to moving before he could really begin his training.

* * *

"Did you get him the weights?" Hiruzen asked as Kakashi shnshined into the room.

"Yeah, here are the receipts." Kakashi said, laying the peices of paper on the desk.

Hiruzen nodded and puffed on his pipe. He was a chain smoker. He admitted it, but he also said that after all the battles that he's been through, he deserved the relaxation it brought.

"I'll begin pulling the funds from his monthly check. It'll take two payments to cover it, as I still have to pay for the mission to get his groceries." The Sandaime had finally realized that it would be easier for him to get other ninja to buy Naruto's things. He ended up spending the same amount for groceries as he had been to cover the cost of the Genin who did it, but he got much better supplies. Couple that with Kakashi buying all of his clothes and supplies, Naruto had almost no money left over, but was better off in the quality of goods.

"We have one more thing to go over Kakashi." Hiruzen said, getting the copy ninja's attention. "I'm pulling you off active ANBU to Jounin status again."

"You're trying another go at making me a Jounin Instructor?" Kakashi asked, already knowing where this was going. The Hokage did this once every couple of years to try and get the young man over the deaths of his old team by accepting a new one.

"Yes. Though its more than that this time. Uchiha Sasuke is graduating this coming year, and the Council is petitioning you to be his sensei."

"To train his Sharingan whenever it activates." Kakashi said, correctly deducing the reasoning.

"Yes. He, as always, has to pass the test ofcourse, but I agree with the Council for once on this one. Added to it, with Naruto's two time fails, he will probably be put on the same team."

"So I finally will be the boy's sensei." Kakashi mused.

"Yes. You may turn in your gear at the ANBU headquarters and get your Jounin vest... again." Hiruzen sighed the last part, causing Kakashi to laugh before shunshining out.

**T.B.C.**

**Okay. I stand corrected. Thank you for the list of fics, High Demon Lord, I'll check them out when I have the time. And I don't consider it rude at all to correct me.**

**Big-Babidi, sorry if I made it seem like he was getting beat every other day. What I believe is that most of those were assassination attempts that occured when he was one or two and defenceless. They tapered off after that due to constant ANBU intervention. After that I was thinking five to ten when he was three, three to four when he was four, and one or two after that. I'm sorry if it came off as unrealistic, but I have to say that its probably more realistic than many other estimates. I've seen some who say he was beaten three times a day.**

**Hope y'all liked this chapter. It was another filler before I can get to the real plot.**


	3. I'll Protect Her with my Life

Naruto and the Dead Bone Pulse

Chapter III: I'll Protect Her with my Life

Naruto cracked an eye open from his sleep. It was before dawn, a regular occurrence for the blond who woke up to train at this time usually. This was also the first day of his last year of the Academy . . . again. He had failed the two previous years, so he was repeating the year.

He slipped out of bed slowly and placed his weights on. The weight had increased drastically in the month he had been training with them. ANBU-sensei said the quick acclimation to the weights was to be expected because his abnormal amount of chakra and quick healing rate allowed his muscles to tear and heal quicker than most. He now carried a hundred pounds on each arm and leg with a moderate amount of difficulty. He estimated an increase in weight sometime next week.

Once he had his weights secure, he slipped into his baggy black pants and forearm bracers before heading into the kitchen for a light breakfast he created a shadow clone to cook him a small breakfast of eggs and bacon.

Once finished with his breakfast he hopped out of his window to the next roof top and began traveling at a moderate pace to his favorite training ground working on loosening his muscles as he ran.

* * *

Finally arriving at the training ground which held the memorial stone, Naruto stretched a little before dropping to the ground and performing fifty one handed pushups with each arm. That began his work out which included sit-ups, pull-ups, hundred meter sprints, squats, and handstand pushups, and a repeat of all of the above except on top of the river surface. Then to finish out his workout, he performed a one mile swim and a full out run back to his apartment which was five miles away. In total the workout lasted an hour and a half.

A panting and sweating Naruto stumbled into his house just as the sun began to peak over the horizon. After taking a quick shower, Naruto prepared for the Academy by strapping on his kunai pouch and throwing on a dark orange chuunin style vest that the Hokage had gifted him, so that he was not constantly shirtless while at the Academy.

* * *

Naruto took a nice leisurely walk through the village on his way to the Academy, ignoring the glares that the villagers sent his way. He could avoid the animosity entirely by taking the rooftops; however, he decided that if he was going to protect the village as Hokage one day, he would need to be recognized and seen by the villagers in order to gain their respect one day.

He made his way through the doors of the Academy and found his classroom with five minutes to spare, He wasn't overly concerned with punctuality as this was his third time going through his last first day. It tended to kill the wonder that was usually present on the other ninja candidates' faces.

Casually walking up to one of the middle rows and sitting down, Naruto began to survey the other students who had already arrived. Instantly he could tell this was a special class. Almost every big clan heir was present.

His eyes travelled over the Hyuuga heiress and the last Uchiha. Those were the heirs of the two most prestigious clans. The Uchiha looked confident, maybe too confident while the Hyuuga sat shyly in her chair. He didn't know if it was a really good act or if she was really just shy. Though he would tend towards the latter as he had had a few interactions with this class beforehand and she had maintained that attitude.

Letting his eyes wander again they came upon the Inuzuka and Aburame heirs. The Inuzuka was laughing loudly and seemed a little brash but seemed capable enough. The Aburame was completely silent, giving no hint of emotion, though that was to be expected from the enigmatic clan. Naruto had no doubt the two were proficient in their clan techniques and could hold their own in a fight.

More towards the back of the class was the Akimichi and Nara heirs. As expected, they filled the stereotypes of their clans. The Nara boy was passed out on his desk while the Akimichi who was a little rotund was snacking on a bag of chips. However, Naruto knew that the Nara were known for being excellent strategists and the Akimichi put their big size to deadly use. Both were more than likely capable ninja candidates.

Finally the Yamanaka heir was cozied up to the Uchiha along with an unknown pink haired girl. They both seemed like more fan girls than actual ninja. However, Naruto wouldn't count either out as he knew plenty about the Yamanaka mind walking techniques and their deadly efficiency in battle.

Those were the only notable members of the class as far as he could see, but it was still a rare occurrence to have so many notable clan heirs in one place at one time. This class had purposefully been put together for some reason or another.

Naruto had little more time to contemplate as Iruka walked to the front of the class room and called the class to order.

"Good morning class." Iruka called with a smile. "Welcome to your last year at the Academy."

Almost everyone in the class broke out into excited whispers. Naruto had heard the entire speech before. Iruka went on to discuss the responsibility they were soon to take on and other such nonsense. Naruto had heard it all before, and it had lost its magic. Naruto knocked his pencil on the floor and nonchalantly bent to pick it up. After shuffling around a few seconds he rose with pencil in hand and analyzed the room around him. Seeing that none of them were any wiser, Naruto smiled softly and laid his head down to sleep.

* * *

Naruto whistled happily while walking down the street after having just replaced himself with a shadow clone. After two years in the class he had gleaned all he could out of the lessons that Iruka was going to teach so he felt there was no reason for him to stick around. Besides, the clone would transfer any new information to him. Deciding to be more productive, Naruto headed to the training grounds.

* * *

"Yo." A pineapple headed boy said shaking the blonde next to him awake. The Naruto clone opened his eyes blearily and yawned.

"Yo. What's up?" Naruto asked who he recognized as the Nara clan heir. The Akimichi was standing directly behind him eating chips.

"Class is breaking for lunch. Thought you should wake up so you could go eat." The Nara said putting his hands in his pockets. "You could join us if you wanted. I don't really care."

Naruto flashed his biggest grin at the duo and said, "Sure. My name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Nara Shikamaru. That's Akimichi Chouji," the pineapple head said simply before walking away. Chouji quickly followed with the Naruto clone following absent mindedly thinking that its creator would probably like to find out some things about his classmates, especially with the prestigious clans represented here, so he would start gathering information to be relayed upon his dismissal.

* * *

Naruto sat meditating underneath a tree in Training Ground 7. The chaos that was normally his chakra had settled as he concentrated on relaxing. His control sky rocketed in this state of mind. While he still bled too much chakra into his techniques, it was a lot less than normal.

Naruto took a deep breath and let it out. Three pops rang out in the clearing along with a puff of smoke. Four identical sets of blue eyes snapped open and each jumped away from the other. The original stood in the center of his three clones and stood in a fighting stance.

He snapped his head to the side to avoid a white projectile that had been one of his clone's fingers. Swiftly, the fight escalated after that first move. All three clones rushed him and didn't let up at all. He was hard pressed to dodge all of the strikes, but he managed to deflect and dodge without being hit. However, he wouldn't be able to mount an offensive without some distance.

He planted his feet and simultaneously, several rib looking bones protruded from his bare torso attempting to stab all the clones. They all jumped back in time to avoid the blow, though one of their pants was ripped as it snagged on the bone. A bone burst from his shoulder and he pulled out a short sword to wield against the three clones, an action that was repeated by the three duplicates who rushed again.

However, he was not going to allow himself to be put on the defensive again. He jumped in the air at the last minute causing two of the clones to lose their footing in their attempt to not kill each other. One was able to jump away in time, but the other was destroyed as finger projectiles rained down upon it causing it to poof out of existence.

Naruto ducked under another clone's roundhouse kick aimed at his head and caught the follow up punch. He quickly threw the clone away from him in time to block the other's sword strike. After a short exchange, Naruto locked the other clones blade with great force. Then suddenly he let off the blade causing the clone to topple over. He raised the blade to take off his head, but a whip like object came from behind him and yanked his blade out of his hand. He turned to his other clone that was holding the whip like object with bony protrusions on it.

"Is that your spinal column?!" Naruto asked. The clone didn't answer. He just threw the sharp whip at the original who caught the whip, suffering a deep gash, but held a grip on it and pulled the clone to him, pushing a bone spike from his palm through the clone's mouth causing it to poof. Taking note of the spine trick, Naruto rolled under a blade aiming at his neck from behind and grew a bone spike from his knee and shoved it into the stomach of the clone, ending his skirmish.

Naruto breathed deeply calming his pulse before going to collect his vest. This was a productive spar. He had learned a new weapon and worked up a sweat. It still amazed him how lethal taijutsu became for him by just adding his bloodline. That simple knee to the ribs he had given the last clone for a normal person would have just winded an opponent. With his bloodline, Naruto could pierce through a person's body.

He smirked. Sometimes it was good to be him.

* * *

Naruto's routine became fairly regular over the next months. He would leave a clone at the academy. If the teachers noticed they said nothing. The real Naruto would spend the day training various things, mostly his bloodline and taijutsu.

Through his clones, he had begun a budding friendship with a number of the academy students, especially Shikamaru and Chouji, who his clone would hang out with and watch clouds with on most days. Needless to say, Naruto was impressed with the skill he saw in this class. The previous two classes hadn't shown the competency that this class had with only the genius of Hyuuga Neji and the hard work of Rock Lee being the only truly remarkable things he had seen. Then again, the previous two classes hadn't had so many prominent clans represented in them either.

Pretty soon, it was time for the graduation exam again. Naruto breathed an uneasy breath as he waited for his name to be called for the jutsu portion of the test. He had never been strong with genjustu or ninjutsu, preferring to use taijutsu. Because of his chakra control, Naruto wasn't sure if he would be able to supply the correct number of regular clones that the teacher asked for.

Holding his breath as he made his way to the front, Naruto calmly placed his hands in the correct seal while going through some calming exercises. His chakra began to feel much calmer, but was still a maelstrom of energy. He tried to pull a minute amount from the inferno that was his chakra and attempted to form copies of him. He heard two poofs and closed his eyes in prayer.

"Naruto," Iruka began, "I'm sorry, but you fail."

Dejected, Naruto took a look at the two nearly dead clones at his sides. Iruka was giving him an apologetic look. Mizuki tried to defend him, but Iruka would not budge. Naruto couldn't blame the man. He was only upholding the standards that the Academy felt were important to shinobi. With a respectful bow, he left the classroom to mourn his third failure.

* * *

"So you're saying there is a secret test that I can take to pass?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Mizuki smiled down at the blond and nodded his head. "Yes. It's only made available to those candidates who show the ability to become great ninja. This is what you need to do." Mizuki continued to fill him in on the mission details before watching to blond bounce away with a happy grin on his face. Mizuki's own grin turned a tad more sinister as he watched his perfect plan begin to unfold.

* * *

Naruto sat down in the forest with the Scroll of Sealing which he had just stolen from the Hokage's vault.

_'Now all I have to do is wait on that idiot chuunin to get here, and we can see just what is going on here.'_ Naruto thought as he sat against the wall of a shack that was in the clearing that Mizuki had informed him to meet him at. Not one to remain idle or to look a gift horse in the mouth, Naruto decided to look into the scroll.

_ 'First jutsu is Kage Bunshin. What the hell? I already know that jutsu. How is this a scroll of forbidden techniques when I already know the first one on the list.'_ Naruto thought to himself, disappointed. He glanced at the next technique and smiled. _'This one seems interesting.'_

* * *

_'What the hell was Naruto thinking running off with the Forbidden Scroll?'_ Iruka thought to himself while flying through the forest. _'I have to get to him first, before someone with a grudge against the fox gets to him.' _With a renewed since of purpose, Iruka sped along the treetops going deeper into the forest.

An hour later found Iruka stumbling upon the clearing Naruto was working in. To his surprise, Naruto was not even a tiny bit ashamed at being caught with the Scroll, though he did seem surprised at seeing Iruka there.

"Hello Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled with false enthusiasm._ 'Shit. What the hell is he doing here? I was expecting Mizuki. Jiji must have sent out a search party.'_

*Flashback*

_ Naruto stealthily entered the Hokage's office from the window. It was relatively simple to do. All he did was walk straight up the wall and into the open window. It was actually surprising. Naruto slipped silently over to the huge scroll on the pedestal. _'This seems way too easy.'_ Naruto thought to himself._

_ The sound of someone clearing their throat behind him _almost_ didn't surprise the blond. He whipped around while simultaneously slinging the scroll onto his back. "Seems like I spoke too soon Jiji." Naruto said with a small smile to his grandfather figure._

_ The aged Hokage didn't smile. He just stared at the blond while puffing on his pipe. "You know Naruto, what you are doing is paramount to high treason. I sincerely hope you have a good reason, son," the Hokage said calmly._

_ "I do Jiji. You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt my home. This is to weed out someone who would. You have to trust me on this one Jiji," Naruto said just as calmly._

_ The Sandaime sighed and puffed on his pipe and closed his eyes. "I do trust you Naruto. But I can't simply let you walk out of here with the secrets of Konoha."_

_ "Don't worry. Just send the cavalry when you wake up Jiji."_

_ "When I wake up?" the Hokage said confusedly, opening his eyes to see Naruto finish a jutsu. Once the smoke cleared, the Hokage's mouth dropped open and his eyes bugged out right before losing a substantial amount of blood through his nasal cavity and passing out. His last thoughts were, _'Damn that jutsu. You better know what you're doing Naruto. I can only help you if this was really important.'

*End Flashback*

"Idiot! What the hell were you thinking stealing the Forbidden Scroll?" Iruka yelled with a tick mark appearing on his forehead.

Naruto decided to play the dumb act and just grinned really big and scratched the back of his head. "Well I only learned one jutsu from the scroll, but that was all I needed when Mizuki-sensei told me about this test. So all I have to do is show it to you right, Iruka-sensei? Then I graduate?" he asked really loudly.

Naruto could almost see the gears turning in Iruka's mind as he processed what the blond had just said. "Wait, Mizuki told you to do this?" Iruka said quietly to himself. Suddenly, it clicked for the chuunin just as he heard the tell tale swooshing sounds that accompanied incoming projectiles. He was able to knock Naruto out of the way, but took the brunt of the hail of kunai and shuriken which blasted him into the side of the shed.

Naruto righted himself in mid-air and did a couple acrobatic summersaults to distance himself as he glared into the tree that housed the chuunin he had been waiting on. He glanced over at Iruka seeing the many projectiles sticking out of his body before snapping his eyes back to the threat. _'Damn self sacrificing bastard. I knew those projectiles were coming. I didn't need to be knocked out of the way. If we had both just dodged we would have numbers on our side.'_

"Well well Iruka. Seems you found the little brat before I did." Mizuki said with an almost psychotic grin. "Hey Naruto! Throw me the scroll."

"No Naruto!" Iruka yelled out. "That scroll has forbidden ninjutsu that are secret to our village. Don't give it to him even if you die!"

Naruto just stayed in the crouching position staring at Mizuki with his eyes narrowed and ready to jump away from anymore attacks from the silver haired chuunin.

Mizuki chuckled as he stared back at the blond. "Come on Naruto. There is no point in you having it. How about I tell you something. Something that has been hidden from you since the day you were born."

Naruto narrowed his eyes while never dropping eye contact. _'Is he talking about my bloodline? No. As far as I'm aware only jiji and ANBU-sensei know about that. What could he be talking about?'_

"No Mizuki! You can't! It's forbidden!" Iruka yelled to his fellow chuunin.

_'Iruka knows as well. What could this secret possibly be?' _Naruto thought to himself.

"Twelve years ago the Yondaime Hokage died sealing the Kyuubi. Ever since that day a law has been in effect that pertains to you. This law stated that no one would be allowed to speak of the fact that you are the sealed form of the Kyuubi no Kitsune!" Mizuki yelled while grabbing the large shuriken strapped to his back and threw it at the blonde container.

Naruto's eyes widened at the revelation. He didn't want to believe the traitor's words, but the resigned look on Iruka's face confirmed the truth. Suddenly, all of the glares and whispered insults from the older generation made sense. Doubts began to fill his head as he watched the spinning hunk of steel that spelled his death. He could dodge it if he so chose, but he wondered if it was worth it. Maybe he would do the world a favor and allow the demon that plagued Konoha for so long to die at last.

Before he could make the decision to jump out of the way, a body blurred between him and the giant shuriken. Blood spattered upon his surprised face as he saw Iruka take the blow for him.

Iruka coughed blood and muffled a cry of pain. He looked into a pair of shocked blue orbs and smiled. "Wake up Naruto. Use your head. It's true that the Kyuubi is sealed within you, but that does not make you the demon itself. You and the Yondaime Hokage are the only reason that the village is still standing." A racking cough tore through the chuunin making him pause. "You were born protecting this village Naruto. Regardless of what everyone else thinks, you are a hero Naruto. I see the love of this village in your eyes Naruto." Iruka slowly stood up and wrenched the shuriken from his back. He faced Mizuki. "I have that same love Naruto. We are the same you and I. I was once ignored and I did my best to get acknowledgement. That's why I will protect you with my life if need be." With that he took a ready stance against the silver haired chuunin who was now staring at the duo with open disgust on his face.

"You would really protect that monster that killed your parents Iruka?" Mizuki called down.

"Not the demon Mizuki." Iruka said with a resolute look on his face. "I am protecting a fellow ninja of Konoha."

Mizuki snorted before unhooking his other giant shuriken. I thought I would spare you Iruka, but I guess I have to kill the demon lover before the demon itself." He began rotating his shuriken at high speeds once again and took aim for the badly injured chuunin. "Now die!"

Before either could react a white projectile flew from behind Iruka and knocked the instrument of death from Mizuki's hand and sent it off into the forest.

A hand gently guided Iruka to take a few steps back as Naruto stepped in front of the injured chuunin.

"I got this Iruka-sensei. You just stay back and protect the scroll." Naruto said with a smile. Something in the chuunin's heartfelt spiel had touched him and motivated him to fight once again.

"Ha. As if. You can't even pass the Genin exam and you expect to take me on you brat?" Mizuki yelled with a spark of insanity in his eyes. He jumped to the ground and faced off with the blond. "I'll kill you demon."

"You may be right about that." Naruto said with a smirk as an idea crossed his mind. He activated his blood line to produce two large demonic looking horns on top of his head. The look of complete shock on his opponents face was priceless to the prankster in Naruto. "However, I will never betray Konoha and will protect her and her people with my life." He calmly got into his ready stance and pushed chakra through his body to harden his bones in preparation for combat.

Mizuki felt a tiny bit of fear at the horns, but squashed it quickly. "You're only a shadow of a demon now. You can't hurt me. Prepare to die demon!" Mizuki yelled and charged at the blond. He readied a kunai and threw it full force at his opponent and it struck dead center of mass. The chuunin grinned at his easy victory when the "body" went up in a plume of smoke, revealing a log in its place.

_'He used Kawarimi.'_ Iruka thought as he watched the battle unfold. _'He knew I would get hit if he just dodged. He has the technique mastered to an incredible degree as well. I didn't even sense it.'_

Mizuki had to halt his advance as more of the white projectiles peppered the ground in front of him. Suddenly, his blonde assailant blurred into existence behind him and delivered a flying roundhouse kick that caught the unsuspecting chuunin right in the head and sent him into a tree. He managed to right himself in the air and landed softly. He growled. The dead last shouldn't be giving him this much trouble.

_'He's fast.' _Iruka thought. _'That's easily mid to high chuunin speed.'_

"I'm going to rip you to shreds!" Mizuki screamed. "By the time I'm done with you, you will be begging for the pain to stop."

Naruto sneered at the chuunin and put his hands in the familiar cross shaped seal. "Whatever pain you think you can inflict I can give back a thousand fold!" he yelled while pumping a large amount of chakra through the seal.

"Bring it on demon! Show me what you can do!" Mizuki yelled manically and readied two more kunai. Before he could charge the whole clearing was covered in vast amounts of smoke. When it cleared the clearing was filled with blond haired blue eyed ninja's in training, all with the same cocky smirk in place.

"Come on you bastard I thought I was going to be begging for the pain to stop!" one of the Naruto's called out. "Well if you won't come to me I guess I have to come to you!" With that every clone charged.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen took a deep drag on his pipe while staring at the blond across from him. The Forbidden Scroll had been returned to its proper place by the blond along with his chuunin instructor. Sarutobi had instructed one of his ANBU to take the young man to the hospital to get his wounds taken care of. That left the blond who was shifting uncomfortably in his seat across from him.

"That was really reckless Naruto-kun." He said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled on the room.

"I know jiji." Naruto replied while looking down.

"I get why you handled it the way you did. I understand that you saw a threat to the village and felt that you did not have the time to go through proper channels. In some ways, you were right, and I admire that you did that to protect the village." The Hokage said with a smile to reassure his grandson like figure. Naruto grinned back at the old man and perked up at the praise. "However, you were impulsive, and it proves that you are lacking the ability to think through all the options before you make a decision."

Naruto ducked his head back because he knew it was true. There were other things he could've done, but he decided on the lone ranger route.

"I think you get the point, and I don't need to go too deep into what could've happened." Hiruzen said and Naruto nodded in confirmation. "Good. From what I observed in the forest, I am going to support Iruka's decision to field promote you to the rank of Genin and pay you for a B ranked mission for your apprehension of the traitor Mizuki. You are more than ready to make this step in your career. Congratulations Naruto-kun."

Hiruzen smiled as the blond celebrated and puffed on his pipe. _'You have no idea what you are capable of my boy. You have the fighting spirit. Now you just need the ability to think like a shinobi.'_ "I'm sure Iruka will treat you to ramen in celebration. Why don't you go and see if he's out of the hospital yet?"

T.B.C.

**Hey guys. I know it's been a while. I won't promise to be better in the future. I honestly don't have a whole lot of time to write. I'm in college now. I go to USMA at West Point, NY. Between my Army training and classes and my admittedly pathetic social life, its hard to do. So I'll continue as I can, but no promises. Anybody who has enjoyed so far, I hope I continue to please.**

**Deck of 53**


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